The 1988–89 season was

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

's 87th season in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

, and their 14th consecutive season in the top division of

English football Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...

. Despite finishing second in the 1987–88 season, Manchester United did not play in the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

in 1988–89 due to the ban on English clubs in Europe since the Heysel stadium disaster. Former Manchester United striker

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...

returned to the club following spells at

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), also known as FC Bayern (), Bayern Munich, or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. It is best known for its professional men's football team, which pla ...

, finishing the season as

PFA Player of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Men's Players' Player of the Year (often called the PFA Men's Players' Player of the Year, the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is ...

and also as United's joint top scorer alongside Brian McClair with 16 goals in all competitions. United had tried to sign midfielder

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talent ...

from

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...

in the close season, but lost out to

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...

. 17-year-old winger

Lee Sharpe Lee Stuart Sharpe (born 27 May 1971) is an English professional golfer, former professional footballer, sports television pundit and reality television personality. As a player was predominantly a left winger from 1988 to 2004, he notably play ...

was signed from

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nickna ...

and became a semi-regular player, appearing either as a left-back or a left-winger. Full-back Lee Martin, who had made his debut at the end of the previous season, became a regular choice on either side of defence during the season. Striker Mark Robins made his debut early in the season and turned out 10 times for the first team, starting just once. Young midfielder Russell Beardsmore scored and set up two goals in United's 3–1 win over

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

on New Year's Day, in one of his first appearances for the senior side. Midfielders Deiniol Graham and Tony Gill also broke into the first team during the season, but made only occasional appearances, and Gill suffered a broken ankle which would eventually force him into retirement. 19-year-old winger Giuliano Maiorana was signed from non-league Histon and played six times for the first team, including a highly promising performance in a 1–1 home draw with

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

in the league. Also new to the squad was goalkeeper

Jim Leighton James Leighton (born 24 July 1958) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Leighton started his career with Aberdeen, where he won seven domestic trophies and the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup under the m ...

, who conceded just 35 goals in 38 league games and kept 15 clean sheets. Mid-season signings were defender

Mal Donaghy Malachy Martin Donaghy (born 13 September 1957 in Belfast) is a former Northern Ireland national football team, Northern Ireland international Association football, footballer who played for Luton Town F.C., Luton Town and Manchester United F.C. ...

from Luton Town and winger

Ralph Milne Ralph Milne (13 May 1961 – 6 September 2015) was a Scottish professional footballer whose clubs included Dundee United, Charlton Athletic, Bristol City and Manchester United. He played as both an attacking midfielder or a winger. He began his ...

from Bristol City. It was the final season at the club for

Gordon Strachan Gordon David Strachan ( born 9 February 1957) is a Scottish former football coach and player. He played for Dundee, Aberdeen, Manchester United, Leeds United and Coventry City, as well as the Scotland national team. He has since managed Co ...

, who left in March, and was followed at the end of the season by the departures of

Norman Whiteside Norman Whiteside (born 7 May 1965) is a Northern Irish former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and striker. Whiteside began his career at Manchester United, signing professional forms in 1982 at the age of 17 and quickly be ...

and Paul McGrath, while

Remi Moses Remi Mark Moses (born 14 November 1960) is an English former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He broke into the first team at West Bromwich Albion under the management of Ron Atkinson in the late 1970s, when Albion were enjoying ...

retired due to injury. United had a slow start in the league, including a nine-match winless run incorporating eight draws and a defeat, from September to November, followed by a mid-season run of strong form which lifted them from mid table to the top three, before a run of disappointing results to the season dragged them down to 11th place in the final table. They suffered an early exit from the League Cup and lost their final chance of silverware in March when they were beaten by Nottingham Forest at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...

in the FA Cup quarter-finals. By the end of the season, it was clear the United squad needed further strengthening to push for honours in 1989–90. For several months, United had been strongly linked to the signature of English international midfielder Neil Webb, who had expressed his desire to leave Nottingham Forest after four successful seasons. A deal was soon agreed to sign the player, along with a deal to sign

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

midfielder

Mike Phelan Michael Christopher Phelan (born 24 September 1962) is an English professional football coach and former player who is currently a coach at Manchester United. Born in Nelson, Lancashire, he spent most of his playing career at Burnley, Norwich ...

Pre-season

Manchester United talisman

returned to Old Trafford in 1988 after spells in Europe with

and

for a club record fee of £1.8 million. But Ferguson's other high-profile target,

, turned down an opportunity to move to Manchester United despite a verbal agreement between Ferguson and the player and a Maltese holiday paid for by the United manager. Ferguson signed

from former club

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), a ...

for £750,000 in order to fill the goalkeeping void left by the retiring

Gary Bailey Gary Richard Bailey (born 9 August 1958) is a former footballer who made nearly 300 appearances in the Football League playing as a goalkeeper for Manchester United. Born in Ipswich, Suffolk, he grew up in South Africa, but went on to be cappe ...

, the underperforming Chris Turner and the injury-prone Gary Walsh.

Season performance

Manchester United's inconsistency was highlighted early on, recording three consecutive wins; following the 2–0 victory over

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

towards the end of September, before failing to record another one until early December, ten games later. Manchester United also recorded six wins from seven games between

Boxing Day Boxing Day is a holiday celebrated after Christmas Day, occurring on the second day of Christmastide (26 December). Though it originated as a holiday to give gifts to the poor, today Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday. It ...

1988 and 11 February 1989 before their league season faltered, recording just three more victories in the season. With the club failing to achieve in the league, many fans began to realise that the cups would be the only realistic opportunity for silverware. They needed three games to defeat Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup third round, before hitting four past Oxford United in the fourth. United's three biggest attendances for the season came in the FA Cup, highlighting its importance to the fans, though the campaign eventually ended in defeat at the hands of

Brian Clough Brian Howard Clough ( ; 21 March 1935 – 20 September 2004) was an English football player and manager, primarily known for his successes as a manager with Derby County and Nottingham Forest. He is one of four managers to have won the Engli ...

's Nottingham Forest side in the quarter finals. Manchester United were also unsuccessful in the season's League Cup; after confidently defeating

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

over two legs, they lost 2–1 to Wimbledon at

Plough Lane Plough Lane – named The Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons – is a football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rugby league side London ...

and were knocked out of the competition.

Pre-season and friendlies

First Division

FA Cup

League Cup

Football League Centenary Trophy

Events of the season

Before the season began,

snubbed Manchester United in favour of a national record move from Newcastle United to Tottenham Hotspur for £2 million, and there was also talk of a similar fee being paid for

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, w ...

sweeper

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was capab ...

, who helped the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

win

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. The tournament crowned the Nethe ...

and Paul McGrath had been transfer listed at the end of the previous season but the lack of interest in them disappointed

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

, who had re-signed striker

from

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Found ...

and brought in goalkeeper

from

as successor to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

bound Chris Turner.

agreed terms with

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for a £100,000 transfer, but the deal fell through. Paul McGrath then came off the transfer list at his own request
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On 24 September 1988, Ferguson gave debuts to 17-year-old winger

and 19-year-old striker Mark Robins in the 2–0 home win over West Ham United in the First Division. This saw United occupy fifth place in the league, level on points with Southampton, a single point behind defending champions Liverpool and newly promoted Millwall, and three points behind surprise leaders Norwich City
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However, a 10-match winless league run (8 draws and 2 defeats) followe
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dragging them to 11th place in the table by 27 November
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The winless streak ended on 3 December with an impressive 3–0 home win over Charlton Athletic
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While United were on their winless streak, they sold out of favour striker

Peter Davenport Peter Davenport (born 24 March 1961) is an English former professional footballer and manager who has managed teams in both the Welsh and English leagues. He has also managed classes as a substitute teacher. Born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, he won ...

to Middlesbrough for £700,000
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They also failed in their Football League Cup quest when they lost 2–1 to Wimbledon at

Brian McClair Brian John McClair (born 8 December 1963) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer. As a player, he was a forward from 1980 to 1998, notable for his near 11-year spell at Manchester United where he won 14 trophies includ ...

scored their only goal of the game, while both of Wimbledon's goals were scored by former United striker

Terry Gibson Terence Bradley Gibson (born 23 December 1962) is an English former professional footballer who played as a forward for several clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur, Coventry City, Manchester United and Wimbledon. Playing career Born in Waltham ...

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Alex Ferguson continued to build for the future in November by making a £20,000 move for 21-year-old midfielder Paul Dalton from non-league Brandon United
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He also signed 22-year-old winger Giuliano Maiorana from non-league Histon for £30,000
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Five days before

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

, Jean Busby, wife of legendary former manager and current club president Sir Matt, died after a long illness at the age of 80
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A thrilling clash with Liverpool at Old Trafford on New Year's Day was dominated by 19-year-old midfielder Russell Beardsmore, who scored his first goal for the club and lifted them to sixth in the league, while Liverpool were fifth, and Arsenal and Norwich City were level at the top of the league
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Soon after this successful result, Manchester United were reported to be among the clubs interested in signing Nottingham Forest and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

midfielder Neil Webb, who was told by manager

that he could leave the

City Ground The City Ground is a football stadium in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England, on the banks of the River Trent. It has been home to Nottingham Forest Football Club since 1898 and has a capacity of 30,445. The stadium was a venue when En ...

for around £1.5 million after stating that he did not want to sign a new contract
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By 11 February, United were third in the league thanks to a 2–0 win over Sheffield Wednesday that completed a four-match winning run in the First Division, though they were still 11 points behind leaders Arsenal (who had a game in hand) and 8 points behind second placed Norwich City
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Manchester United reached the FA Cup quarter-finals (for the first time since they won the competition four years ago) with a 1–0 home win over AFC Bournemouth in the fifth round replay
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but their last chance of silverware ended when they lost 1–0 at home to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup quarter-final. Their form in the final weeks of the league campaign was dismal, as they finished 11th at the end of a season which had begun with such high hopes. Alex Ferguson remained determined to turn his side into title contenders, and just after the season ended he joined the race to sign England winger Trevor Steven, who had been put on the transfer list by Everton
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but was beaten to his signature by Rangers. A £600,000 offer for

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

defender

Glenn Hysén Glenn Ingvar Hysén (; born 30 October 1959) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Starting off his career with IFK Göteborg in 1978, he went on represent PSV Eindhoven, Fiorentina, and Liverpool before retiring ...

was accepted, but he opted to join Liverpool instead. Several other high-profile names were also mentioned in the media as Ferguson attempted to strengthen his squad. These included West Ham United midfielder

Paul Ince Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of EFL Championship side Reading. A former midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1982 to 2007, sta ...

, Southampton winger Danny Wallace, Nottingham Forest midfielder Neil Webb and Norwich City midfielder

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Squad statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1988-89 Manchester United F.C. season Manchester United F.C. seasons